Case for electromechanically shiftable representation



s. BETTUZZI 3,226,173

CASE FOR ELECTROMECHANICALLY SHIFTABLE REPRESENTATION Dec. 28, 1965 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 1, 1964 M a a m B F/ga INVENTOR.

Dec. 28, 1965 G. BETTUZZI CASE FOR ELECTROMECHANICALLY SHIFTABLEREPRESENTATION Filed June 1, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 INVENTOR GIOWMW/ 55770221 United States Patent 3,226,173 CASE FOR ELECTROMECHANEQALLYSHIFTABLE REPRESENTATION Giovanni Bettuzzi, Via Trieste 76, Parma, ItalyFiled June 1, 1964, Ser. No. 371,851 Claims priority, application Italy,June 5, 1963, 11,645 3 Claims. (Cl. 312-223) This invention relates to acabinet, adapted to assemble and contain blackboards or panels fordidactic use, or other diiferent boards and to permit at the same timeto set them well in sight by actuation of suitable servocontrols.

It is a main object of this invention to provide a cabinet case ofextremely convenient employ in scholastic rooms in general inasmuch asit is adapted to solve the problem of putting successively in sight wideplane surfaces on which to write or to represent illustrations over alimited area, correctly oriented in the room Without the need ofcomplexed and fatiguing operations or auxiliary equipments.

It is another important object of this invention to provide a cabinetcase which, besides aesthetically harmonizing with the room furniture,is such as to preserve the panels such as blackboards, maps or didacticcharts, negatoscopes, or others contained therein, from thedeterioration which they would be subjected to when permanently exposedto the entire advantage of the life of material itself.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide an apparatusof safe functioning and of extremely convenient and practical use.

It is another object of this invention to provide for the containment ofmeans, adapted for motion picture and diapositive projections.

These and still other objects are attained by the cabinet case forblackboards or diiferent panels for prevalently didactic orinformational use according to this invention, which is characterized bythe fact that it is substantially constituted of a box-like body withside and back walls and a front wall provided wit-h a window, throughwhich the blackboards or different panels are exposed to sight, part ofwhich at least are mounted sliding over side guides and in restconditions remain placed, in juxtaposition to one another in preferablysubstantially vertical planes behind the parapet of said window, saidparapet being of a height at least equal to that of the panels in orderto mask them, means being also provided for shifting said panels fromthe rest position to the exposing position and inversely.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become moreapparent from the following detailed description of a preferred butnon-limiting embodiment of a cabinet case according to this invention,considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the cabinet case;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the cabinet case;

FIGS. 3 and 4 show in an enlarged scale as compared to the precedingfigures, a vertical cross section and a horizcntal longitudinal section,respectively;

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate some details of the panel raising system.

Referring now to the above figures, the cabinet case according to thisinvention is substantially constituted of a parallelypiped-shapedcontainer with quadrangular base having the side panels or flanks 1 and2 and the back 3 blind, whilst the front 4 shows a window 5 having alength being substantially equal to that of the cabinet.

Underneath said window 5 develops a parapet 6,

Patented Dec. 28, 1965 which is variably decorated in a closelyanalogous manner to the top structure 7.

inside the flanks 1 and 2 there are arranged vertical guides 8 and 9(FIG. 4) provided respectively for guidmg the blackboards or otherpanels 10 and a rolling shutter 11, adapted to close the window 5 whenthe cabinet is not in use (in the figures have been represented threepanels or blackboards 10, but, obviously, they may be provided in anynumber whatsoever).

The height of the window opening 5 (having a quadrangular shape) isscarcely larger than that of the panels, so that the latter, once theyare raised by the devices which will be described farther, appearlocated in center of the same. Each individual panel 10 is surrounded bypreferably a metal frame, mounted sliding into said vertical guides 8.The height of the parapet 6 is slightly larger than that of the panels10 so as to conceal them from sight in nonuse conditions.

The raise of each of the panels 10 occurs by means of wire ropes 12(FIGS. 2-5) wound in corresponding grooves of a double pulley 13 (FIG.6) which is in turn keyed on the shaft of an electric motor 13a withrelated speed reducer. Each panel is associated with a respectiveelectric motor 13a, related ropes 12 being caused to pass about idlecounter pulleys 14 and hence fastened to the ends of the upper edge ofthe respective panel frame. As clearly illustrated in FIG. 5, thefastening of ropes 12 to the panels occurs by damping means, constitutedof a pin 15 terminating on the lower part with a stop nut or athickening and mounted vertically sliding into a hole provided in thepanel frame, against the act on of a spring 16; by such arrangement,shock movements of the panels during the displacing start and stoppingstages are avoided.

The electric motors 13a with related pulleys l3, counter pulleys 14 andshutter roller 11 are contained in the top structure 7, whilst, in thepath of the panels there are arranged limit microswitches 17, 18 asupper and lower limit switches (FIG. 3).

At the rear side of the cabinet, near the back wall 3, there is arrangeda projection screen, constituted of a preferably metal frame 19, insidewhich a white cloth 21 (FIG. 2) is stretched by means of cord binding20. The exposure of such a screen is provided by raising same beyond theupper portion of the cabinet, whilst the frame 19 extends along asection 19a underneath the screen proper, so as to keep it in verticalposition. In order to allow the screen extraction, the cabinet roof isprovided with a corresponding passage slot 22 (FIG. 3), whilst thesliding is ensured by means of vertical guides 23 having a U-shapedstructure, fitted inside the flanks 1 and 2.

The screen raising or lowering takes place by means of an analogoussystem to that associated with panels 19, comprising the ropes 12',wound about a double pulley 13 of an electric motor 13a and passingabout idle counter pulleys 14. The fastening of the ropes 12 to thescreen occurs at two brackets 24, projecting from and fixed to the lowersection 19a of the frame 19 (FIGS. 3-4). Also in this case the cableconnection is made by damping means 25 (FIG. 3), and the limit switchstops are controlled by upper and lower limit microswitches 26 and 27respectively, placed in the path of the projections 24.

The electric motors for lifting the panels and the screen are controlledby a pushbutton battery, placed on a cabit ide, comprising (FIG. 1) thepushbuttons 28 for the ascent, the pushbuttons 29 for the descent and apushbutton 30 for stopping all moving members in an intermediateposition whatsoever. All relays and tele-inverters of the electricalcircuit are housed in a box body 31, placed on the cabinet bottom (FIG.3).

Between the panels 10 and the screen 19 there is arranged a negatoscope32, fastened to the flanks 1 and 2 at the height of the window 5. Thenegatoscope 32 is constituted in a well known manner of a box frame,provided on its front side with glass and diffuser 33 and inside withlamps 34 (FIGS. 3 and 4).

From the foregoing the mode of operation of the apparatus will becomeapparent.

The opening and closing of the rolling shutter 11 is made by hand,whilst the raising and lowering of the panels and screen isautomatically operated by acting on the pushbuttons 28 and 29. Bypressing these down, in fact, the motors and with them the pulleys 13and 13' are set in rotation, which by winding or unwinding the cables 12and 12 in the respective grooves (FIGS. -6) cause the displacement ofsaid members. The stop, provided in a suitable position, occurs uponactuation of the microswitches 17, 18 and 26, 27, set in operation bydirect action thereagainst of the frames of panels and brackets 24,respectively. The negatoscope 32 is visible when all panels 10 are inrest position (position illustrated in FIG. 3), whilst the screen isexposed by raising it above the cabinet roof by causing it to passthrough the slot 22 (raising of the screen is possible since the ropes12' are connected to the projections 24, fastened to the lower section19a of the frame 19).

The cabinet is preferably made out of entirely metal structures, but itis obvious that whatever materials and dimensions could be useddepending upon requirements.

The invention is subject to several changes and modifications, allfalling within the scope of this invention.

So for example the panel raising and lowering system could be made bymeans of one single motor acting on one single shaft with which theindividual rope winding pulleys could be alternately engaged by a leversystem.

Still for example, the negatoscope, instead of being stationary, may bemounted displacing in height with an arrangement similar to that of thepanels.

By way of further example, the raising and lowering of panels may beoperated by mechanical devices which can be manually actuated from theoutside.

What I claim is:

1. A cabinet case for representation panels having two spaced lateralsides, a top side and a bottom side, comprising a box-like body having atop wall, a front wall and a window in said front wall below said topwall, a parapet portion of said front wall below said window, aplurality of juxtaposed vertically movable representation panels withinsaid box-like body below said top wall, guide means for verticallyguiding said panels, electromotor driving means for vertically shiftingsaid panels in an upper position thereof below said top wall in front ofsaid window and in a lower position thereof below said window, saidparapet portion having a height adapted to conceal said panels when insaid lower position thereof, and said window having an area adapted toexpose to sight the representation of said panels when in said upperposition, a projection screen panel juxtaposed with respect to saidrepresentation panels, a slot in said top wall allowing the passage ofsaid projection screen panel through said top wall, further guide meansfor said projection screen panels for vertically guiding thereof,further electro-motor driving means for' vertically guiding saidprojection screen panel in an upper position thereof above said top walland in a lower position thereof below said top wall and switch means forcontrolling the actuation of the panels.

2. A cabinet case according to claim 1, further comprising a negatoscopemounted in fixed position in said box-like body at the height of saidwindow in front of said projection screen panel and behind the other ofsaid panels.

3. A cabinet case for representation panels having two spaced lateralsides, a top side and a bottom side, comprising a box-like body having atop wall, a front wall and a window in said front wall below said topwall, a a parapet portion of said front wall below said window, aplurality of juxtaposed vertically movable representation panels withinsaid box-like body below said top wall, guide means for verticallyguiding said panels, electromotor driving means for vertically shiftingsaid panels in an upper position thereof below said top wall in front ofsaid window and in a lower position thereof below said window, saidparapet portion having a height adapted to conceal said panels when insaid lower position thereof, and said window having an area adapted toexpose to sight the representation of said panels when in said upperposition, a projection screen panel juxtaposed with respect to saidrepresentation panels, a slot in said top wall allowing the passage ofsaid projection screen panel through said top wall, further guide meansfor said projection screen panels for vertically guiding thereof,further electro-motor driving means for vertically guiding saidprojection screen panel in an upper position thereof above said top walland in a lower position thereof below said top wall and switch means forcontrolling the actuation of the panels, said electro-motor drivingmeans comprising for each respective panel, an electro-motor within saidcabinet below said top wall and above said window, a driving pulley nearsaid electro-motor and driven by said electro-motor, said driving pulleyhaving its axis of rotation perpendicular to said respective panel, saiddriving pulley having two peripheral grooves thereof, a correspondingidle guiding pulley substantially at the level of said electro-motor andarranged near each side of said cabinet within the interior thereof,first cable means wound about one of said idle pulleys and connectedwith one end thereof to said respective panel at the top side thereofnear one of said lateral sides thereof, said cable being connected withanother portion thereof to one of said grooves of said driving pulley,second cable means wound about the other of said idle pulleys andconnected with one end thereof to said respective panel at the top sidethereof near the other of said lateral sides thereof, said second cablebeing connected with another portion thereof to the other of saidgrooves of said driving pulley, a rolling shutter arranged in therolled-up position thereof above said window and below said top wallnear said front wall of the cabinet and adapted to close said window.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 591,282 10/ 1897Kunkel 40-65 1,846,649 2/ 1932 McFarland 312-297 X 2,172,956 9/1939Derman 312-247 X 2,499,791 3/ 1950 Spencer 312-247 X 2,576,888 11/1951Padgett 312-306 X 2,701,838 2/1955 Loesch 240-2 2,889,442 6/1959 Schultz312-247 X FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner. CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS,Examiner.

1. A CABINET CASE FOR REPRESENTATION PANELS HAVING TWO SPACED LATERALSIDES, A TOP SIDE AND A BOTTOM SIDE, COMPRISING A BOX-LIKE BODY HAVING ATOP WALL, A FRONT WALL AND A WINDOW IN SAID FRONT WALL BELOW SAID TOPWALL, A PARAPET PORTION OF SAID FRONT WALL BELOW SAID WINDOW, APLURALITY OF JUXTAPOSED VERTICALLY MOVABLE REPRESENTATION PANELS WITHINSAID BOX-LIKE BODY BELOW SAID TOP WALL, GUIDE MEANS FOR VERTICALLYGUIDING SAID PANELS, ELECTROMOTOR DRIVING MEANS FOR VERTICALLY SHIFTINGSAID PANELS IN AN UPPER POSITION THEREOF BELOW SAID TOP WALL IN FRONT OFSAID WINDOW AND IN A LOWER POSITION THEREOF BELOW SAID WINDOW, SAIDPARAPET PORTION HAVING A HEIGHT ADAPTED TO CONCEAL SAID PANELS WHEN INSAID LOWER POSITION THEREOF, AND SAID WINDOW HAVING AN AREA ADAPTED TOEXPOSE TO SIGHT THE REPRESENTATION OF SAID PANELS WHEN IN SAID UPPERPOSITION, A PROJECTION SCREEN PANEL JUXTAPOSED WITH RESPECT TO SAIDREPRESENTATION PANELS, A SLOT IN SAID TOP WALL ALLOWING THE PASSAGE OFSAID PROJECTION SCREEN PANEL THROUGH SAID TOP WALL, FURTHER GUIDE MEANSFOR SAID PROJECTION SCREEN PANELS FOR VERTICALLY GUIDING THEREOF,FURTHER ELECTRO-MOTOR DRIVING MEANS FOR VERTICALLY GUIDING SAIDPROJECTION SCREEN PANEL IN AN UPPER POSITION THEREOF ABOVE SAID TOP WALLAND IN A LOWER POSITION THEREOF BELOW SAID TOP WALL AND SWITCH MEANS FORCONTROLLING THE ACTUATION OF THE PANELS.